Bank Negara Malaysia (“the Bank”) has today issued the Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework (ICTF), which has taken into account feedback received during the public consultation period on the Exposure Draft released on 7 December 2017.

This year, the Bank received applications from 86% of the 102 students who scored straight A+. Subsequently, 16 of the best students were shortlisted for Kijang Academy, a rigorous and holistic scholarship assessment in mid-April.

I would like to congratulate the 2017 Kijang Emas Scholarship recipients for their academic excellence and their exemplary achievements in co-curricular activities and sports. The recipients for this year’s Kijang Emas Scholarship are Amir Farish Bin Abdullah, Nor Fatihah Akma Binti Abd Manaf and Hareneshkaran Kirubakaran with diverse interests, ranging from locomotive engineering, virology and medicine. All of you are truly the “cream of the crop”. I would also like to take this opportunity to recognise your parents, families and teachers for their support and guidance in nurturing your talents. All of your success is a culmination of their collective efforts, steadfast support and encouragement.

Today marks the beginning of an exciting chapter of your life in the quest for knowledge and continued excellence. As you embark on this journey, my experience suggests that a person needs to stretch beyond perceived capabilities to fully realise one's “potential” in becoming a useful member of society. Empirical evidence conducted on “potential”, conclusively points to four factors that influence the growth of a person. The “growth factors”, have strong correlation in a person becoming a successful leader, including, having the curiosity and eagerness to learn, thinking beyond boundaries, social understanding and empathy, and emotional balance. These “growth factors”, which I will elaborate on further, will provide the right mindset to enable the development of character, and push ourselves to realise ambitions that are beyond our greatest dreams.

The Nobel Laureate, Albert Einstein famously said “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious”. I strongly believe that being intellectually curious will provide immense opportunities to acquire knowledge especially if you are enrolled in the top universities. Do learn from the top minds in your chosen field of study. Use technology to also deepen your learning. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg was quoted as saying, “Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can”. With technological advancement, information is now at our fingertips and our daily lives are constantly influenced by it.

Think beyond boundaries, be adventurous and embrace diversity by learning from various disciplines. For example, Elon Musk, an entrepreneur, known as a great believer in future-oriented technologies, studied both physics and business in university. His knowledge of both fields enabled him to build businesses that have transformed industries. Tesla Motors pioneered self-driving cars and the SpaceX project, which involved the designing and manufacturing of advanced rockets and spacecraft. Multiple disciplines, combined with curiosity and diversity, provide breadth and depth in one's perspectives, as it heightens the probability of generating new ideas and creativity. Another famous example I would like to share is Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc., who was curious to learn calligraphy when he was young, even though there was no practical application of the knowledge at that time. Ten years later, while building the first Macintosh computer, he applied his knowledge of calligraphy and designed the beautiful typography that we are so familiar with today.

Understanding others and their different perspectives are critical as well. Diverse perspectives should be looked upon as opportunities to learn. Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors Company once said: “If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from his angle as well as your own”.

Having social and interpersonal skills which aid us in engaging others can help us build stronger and more meaningful relationships in life. These are all learnable skills. They open up opportunities to make friends from all over the world and learn from people from different cultures and backgrounds.

The future is unknown, and along the way, challenges are inevitable. One must have the resilience and the optimism. The acid test of our mettle is when we face adversity and are measured by how we are able to bounce back and learn from our missteps. There are many examples of highly successful individuals whose paths to success were marked with failures but whose journeys continue to inspire us, even today. These include leaders, scientists, inventors, entrepreneurs. It was their ability to recover from setbacks and challenges that had driven them to achieve great success.